1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of non-lethal weapons for immobilizing a live target for capture and more specifically to such a weapon having a projectile and configured for long distance usage preferably from a shotgun, grenade launcher or gas gun and having wires tethered to a high voltage source and a pair of connectors for applying the voltage across the target, the distance between the connectors on the target being substantially constant irrespective of distance to the target. The voltage source is placed in a first projectile stage and the pair of connectors is placed in a second projectile stage.
2. Prior Art
The principal prior art relevant to the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,190. The extensive prior art discussion therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The '199 patent discloses the novel concept of employing a relatively large wire-tethered projectile launched from a rifle, grenade launcher or gas gun and having a first connector extending from the projectile in fixed relation thereto and having a second connector that is automatically launched from the projectile by a secondary propulsion device at or near the target to assure proper spacing between the connectors irrespective of the distance to the target from the original projectile launch point. A potentially convenient method for launching such a projectile would be as described at column 14, lines 21-25 of the '199 patent and with the electronics located and remaining in the casing. However, after such a cartridge is fired, wires would then extend through the bore of the large bore long arm so, that a high voltage source contained in the casing which remains in the firearm is in electrical continuity with the connectors of the projectile wherein an immobilizing electrical discharge is applied between the connectors after they engage a live target. The principal advantage of that invention is that unlike prior TASER® weapons, the spacing between the connectors at the target is not dependent upon the distance traveled by the projectile. One disadvantage of such described invention is that as disclosed, no method is described for clearing the wiring from the firearm's bore after the projectile is successfully deployed. Manual extraction would likely be quite cumbersome. Moreover, the length of the wires that can be stored in the casing or projectile constitutes a still severe distance limitation for projectile travel from the launcher. These factors may both impact the launching firearm's configuration and/or limit the range of the weapon.
One alternative for overcoming these disadvantages is to increase the volume of the projectile to accommodate the voltage source as well. However, adding a battery and a transformer to the projectile also significantly increases the mass of the projectile. While such an increased mass projectile can be readily fired by grenade launchers and gas guns, the potential risk for lethal impact by such a larger mass projectile at high speed makes it an undesirable concept. Impacting a live target with a projectile that is heavy enough and traveling fast enough to cause death even some of the time, would essentially defeat the concept of non-lethal immobilization.
Therefore, it would be highly advantageous to provide a weapon of the type disclosed in Applicant's prior issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,199 which deploys the voltage source in the projectile fired by the rifle, but without incurring the high risk of lethality that a high speed, heavy projectile would create. Such an improved weapon is the principal object of the present invention.